Recently, in processing a silver halide photographic material, shortening of the development time has been needed.
In order to satisfy for shortening the development time, a means of improving the drying property of a silver halide photographic material with shortened drying time is effective.
As a means of improving the drying property, a method of reducing the amount of the binder in a silver halide photographic material is known, but the method involves various problems of lowering the mechanical strength of the material, blackening the scratches formed in the material, and generating roller marks in the material.
Blackening the scratches formed in the material results from a phenomenon such that the scratches as formed on the surface of the material in handling it before development are blackened to black scratches after development. Roller marks are black spots caused by fine bumps on the surfaces of the rollers of an automatic developing machine while a silver halide photographic material is processed with the machine under pressure of the rollers.
The black scratches and roller marks both noticeably lower the commercial value of a silver halide photographic material.
As another means of improving the drying property of a silver halide photographic material, a method of increasing the amount of the hardening agent to be added to the material is also effective.
In accordance with this method, swelling of the material during development is reduced so that the drying property of the material is improved.
However, this method involves various problems of lowering the sensitivity of the material due to retardation of development, lowering the covering power of the material, and increasing the residual silver and residual color in the processed material due to retardation of fixation. Therefore, sufficient improvement of the drying property could not be attained by this method.
For a silver halide photographic material having a silver halide emulsion layer on one surface of a support (hereinafter referred to as a "one-surface-coated photographic material"), removal of the non-light-sensitive hydrophilic colloid layer from the back surface of the material or replacement of the binder in the non-light-sensitive layer on the back surface of the same by a hydrophobic binder is effective for improving the drying property of the material.
However, the non-light-sensitive layer on the back surface generally contains an anti-halation dye, which is decolored or dissolved out into a processing solution by development so that the dye does not remain in the processed material. If a hydrophobic binder is in the layer, such decoloration or dissolution of the dye is impossible.
In particular, recently in the field of photomechanical printing materials and photographic materials for medical use, image processing appliances operating on laser rays have been developed, and materials are needed to satisfy both rapid processability and high image quality.
Provision of an anti-halation dye layer between the support and the silver halide emulsion layer in a silver halide photographic material has heretofore been known, and dyes which have effective light absorbability of laser rays, which may be fixed in an anti-halation layer and which may be decolored by development have been desired.
Provision of a hydrophobic binder layer on the back surface of a silver halide photographic material defectively enlarges the curling property of the material, and provision of an anti-halation layer to the same further enlarges it. Therefore, development of an effective halation-preventing technique without enlarging the curling property has been desired.